2024-07-13 at

Business Motivations : under the Lens of Art vs. Engineering

After jotting down a conceptual note differentiating Art and Engineering, earlier this week, I was reflecting on my motivations for doing business. ( For the purpose of discussion, Engineering is when you want to impose your understanding upon the world, and Art is when you want the world to impose its understanding upon you. ) Why do most people do business?


(A)

I find that most people I talk to are in it for the money. I am not - it's much easier making money just buying and selling other people's companies, and making bets on the overall economy - than actually doing business, myself. To do business with a singular optimisation target of making money, is mainly a form of financial Engineering, I would say. In some cases where the business person is more liberal about how the money is made, it can be Artistic also ... in that the business person is engaged with the activity of modifying their own understanding of the world, and not stuck purely on making the world fit their preexisting vision. What are some other motivations for people to do business?


(B)

For some it is a matter of science - a hypothesis requires tests, and tests must be self-financing, so the tests have to take the form of a business. This is largely what governments, academicians, and venture capitalists are up to. This leans towards Art, as the business person engages for the sake of research.


(C)

Charity. We often read of people executing business in order to "give back". Without further qualification, this is broadly practiced, and generally understood. This leans towards Engineering, as philanthropy tends to have a specific outcome in mind.


(D)

Adventure. This is almost certainly on the Artistic end of things, as one is looking for what one does not know or another state of experience which one does not have.


(E)

Duty. Sacred, filial, or otherwise, some are motivated by the social / spiritual motivation of jihad.


(F, G, H ...)


Mostly I find that I am motivated to do business by B, C, and D.


How about you?

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